A Many Splendored Thing
Directed By: John McNaughton
Story By: Tom Fontana
Teleplay By: Noel Behn
Bayliss and Pembleton's investigation into the death of a phone sex hotline worker takes them into Baltimore's BDSM scene. Lewis and Crosetti investigate the death of a man who was shot to death over a pen. Reeling from a recent break-up, Munch gets fed up with Bolander's new cheery attitude after getting together with Linda (Julianna Margulies).
List of tropes applying to this episode:
- An Aesop: Pembleton tells Bayliss, "Virtue is not virtue unless it slams up against vice, so consequently, your virtue is not real virtue until it's been tested."
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mitchell Forman shot a man to death because he wouldn't give him a pen on the grounds that it cost only $1.49 and he could buy it anywhere. It's deconstructed, since Forman is clearly mentally unstable and tries to kill himself out of guilt.
- Gilligan Cut: Within the same scene - while he, Bolander and Linda are walking around Fort McHenry, Munch tells Linda that being a homicide detective means nothing surprises him. That's when fireworks go off all of a sudden, and Munch looks surprised.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Bayliss, who spends every second of the investigation looking like he's dying inside.
- Moment Killer: While on a double date with Danvers and Howard, Bolander and Linda talk about the piece of music they've been rehearsing, and they start humming it together. Both of them are into the moment, and Danvers and Howard start looking at each other romantically...and that's when Munch comes into the restaurant and joins in with the humming, though he does it in a sarcastic tone.Bolander: Every fairy tale has its nightmare, and this is mine.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Munch goes on a tirade about how love fades, Howard says she wants to be alone, and leaves. Before Danvers leaves, he grabs Munch's shoulder and says, "Nice going, Munch."
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Munch is freaked out by the fact Bolander is happy, and even Giardello is a little weirded out, until he actually talks to Bolander and admits he's not only happy for Bolander, but also jealous of him.
- Shaped Like Itself: The librarian who describes what happened in the shooting Crosetti and Lewis are investigating describes the victim as "the man who got shot" and the shooter as "the man who shot the man who got shot."
- Shout-Out: When Crosetti and Lewis go to interview the woman who runs the building Forman lives in, she tells them, "My husband was the concierge, but he's dead. Now I'm the concierge."
